Radha

Eight years ago

"You're trying to distract me," Radha said.

On the screen, her character somersaulted out of the way of an arrow. She landed on a ledge, above the platform where she'd been facing off against Keisha's fighter.

"I'm not, I swear!" Keisha protested. "I just think about this stuff a lot. And I know you do, too."

A missile Radha had fired flew down towards Keisha's character, who intercepted it with a swipe of his sword. The missiles were so damn slow, they never hit anything.

"That's fair," Radha admitted. She could feel herself smiling, not that Keisha would see it. "Go on, then."

Plus, if she wins, now I have something to blame it on.

"It's about control, you know?" Keisha asked. "Smaller populations have less of a voice. And it doesn't raise as many eyebrows as outright killing people - although, I mean, death penalty's still a thing and all..."

Radha winced as she dodged the next attack, then took a hit from Keisha's sword. "Yeah, that's... its own whole mess, isn't it."

"And, like, the one everyone knows is Nazi Germany," Keisha continued, as her character kept up his onslaught. "But America's been doing forced sterilizations since before the Nazis showed up, and never stopped. And they always claim to be preventing some problem with the specific person, and a lot of them probably believe it, but. You look at the people who worry about America getting too many brown people, or too many non-Christians, and you know there's gonna be bias involved."

"And the threat of it helps keep people in line, huh?" Radha added. She knocked Keisha's character back with a kick, and started charging her fighter's beam attack. "Anyone who doesn't play along might not get to have kids in the future."

"Exactly," Keisha agreed. "There's a lotta ways for the state to punish people, but that's a permanent one that-"

BOOM! Radha's charged blast collided with Keisha's fighter, knocking him off the screen, and ending the match.

"See? You weren't distracted at all!" Keisha's hand clapped down on Radha's left shoulder. "Maybe I was the one distracted, huh?"

"Don't be a sore loser," Radha teased. She shrugged her shoulder, and Keisha withdrew the hand. Radha didn't usually let people touch her, but Keisha never took it too far.

Radha felt her face turn serious again as she put down her controller. "You know, that sterilization stuff - it makes me think of that thing people have been doing. Where they'll, like, get surgeries to make themselves more like the other gender, and end up unable to reproduce as a result."

Keisha frowned. "I think that's pretty different. If people choose what they want to do with their bodies, it's different from getting forced into it."

"Letting people do what they think they want doesn't always go well," Radha said.

She knew she didn't want to get pregnant, knew it even before she knew she was gay, all that stuff sounded so gross - but losing the ability to, of becoming any less of a woman, that sounded horrifying, too.

Keisha didn't respond. She turned away, looking uncomfortable for some reason. In fairness, it had been a pretty heavy talk.

"Um, anyway," Keisha finally said. "I gotta get you back for that. Another round?"

Now

We had a lot of common ground, didn't we? Radha thought, as the memory finished playing through her mind. We disagreed on some things, but until she started pushing me away...

No, that wasn't how it happened, was it. Pushing me away, that's what Monica is doing. When Keisha started talking more about that gender stuff, I was the one who started pushing her away.

I wanted... I wanted to find people who were on the same page as me. But Monica only cares about half the picture. Maybe if Camilla was still around... but was she any better?

And... when did I stop having people I could relax with, laugh with?

Radha groaned, leaning her face into her hands. This was all so complicated, more complicated than just listening to Camilla and Monica. But she couldn't just listen, not anymore.

She put on her armor, the new weapons Monica had built to replace her old ones. She hoped she wouldn't need them.

She made her way to Monica's lab, and knocked on the door. "Come in!" Monica's voice called out.

Radha opened the door, and made her way towards the mass of half-finished projects surrounding Monica.

"Monica," she said. "We need to talk."

---

Madison

madison (she/her): problem is theres too much redcape territory in the way to go by car

madison (she/her): especially with the whole like

madison (she/her): people apparently wanting to murder me thing?????

madison (she/her): and apparently a helicopter is the most convenient option

madison (she/her): so they finally managed to arrange for that

carlos: well, good luck

carlos: god this is still so fuckin weird

madison (she/her): ikr???

madison (she/her): the stuff i have to think about now, the stuff i can SENSE now, the whole thing with isaac

madison (she/her): its SO MUCH

madison (she/her): i just hope i can help them :/

THE CONDUCTOR: i still don't really get what your power does

madison (she/her): im still trying to figure it out!

madison (she/her): its like, feeling the stuff that makes up powers, and being able to push it around

madison (she/her): when i tested it with the louisville capes i could kinda increase or decrease the strength of their powers but the difference wasnt huge

madison (she/her): so... maybe itll work on whatever made isaac get stuck as a werewolf?

madison (she/her): but no way to tell until i try it

THE CONDUCTOR: if it does work, what's gonna happen to isaac?

THE CONDUCTOR: like, after what happened when she went berserk

madison (she/her): i uh

madison (she/her): im gonna wait to worry about that until it happens

THE CONDUCTOR: that's fair :/

They'd have to reach some sort of understanding, right? From the sound of it, this had already come up once, and people had argued that it wasn't really their fault, but... would that argument keep working?

But there was nothing she could do about that right now. All she could do prepare to do her part.

She pulled on the nemenon suit she'd gotten from the bluecapes - it had taken extra hassle to get one in her size, flown in by some sort of cargo drone, because apparently capes weren't any better than the regular clothing industries about having options that fit well on fat folks. But with people out to get her, defenses were important.

Before long, another message came in - Brigid, saying the helicopter was ready. Madison headed out to the landing pad.

Brigid was there, in her usual turquoise armor, along with two others. Madison recognized one of them as Sensor, another one of the Louisville capes. The other was a woman in what Madison assumed was some sort of flight suit.

Sensor waved to Madison, with the mechanical claw they had in place of a left hand. "Hey, Anima. You all set?"

Anima, the "cape name" she'd taken. It still all hardly felt real. A year ago, she'd dreamed of having powers, back when it didn't sound nearly this stressful.

"Yeah," Madison confirmed. She looked to the new woman. "Are you..."

"This is Rose," Brigid explained. "She'll be your ride to Cincinnati."

Rose smiled and offered a handshake. "Hiya. Pleased to meetcha!"

Madison took Rose's hand, doing her best to steel her nerves. Minutes later, they were in the air.

---

Radha

"What's that supposed to mean?" Monica growled.

Both she and Radha had left off their masks, giving Radha a full view of Monica's glare across the desk between them. Radha had brought her helmet with her - it hung from her belt.

Radha tried to figure out where to start. "I'm worried about... all of this. Are you sure you're not taking things too far?"

"We passed too far when they killed Camilla," Monica hissed back. "I thought you understood that. What's got you all hesitant now?"

I'm not sure I trust you to have control over the whole world's reproduction, and I don't know if we can trust Lelti, and...

"Weren't we trying to avoid hurting innocents?" Radha asked. "And now you want to kill... all of them."

"You keep saying you and not we," Monica said. "I thought we were both on board with this. None of them are innocent."

"Even kids?" Radha asked. "Should we punish them now for what they might do in the future?"

"It's not about punishing them," Monica fired back. "It's about making a world that will be better off without them."

People keep doing this, don't they? Finding excuses to get rid of whoever's least convenient for them. I'd stopped thinking about it, assumed we had to be so much better than that... but we weren't.

"We shouldn't be making that call," Radha said. "Monica, we were both happier before we came here, can't we just-"

"Just forget that Camilla fucking died?" Monica snapped. "Forget about all the men out there, constantly looking for new ways to hurt women? Radha, this world is broken, and I can't rest until I fix it."

Radha tensed, keeping a close watch on Monica. "Well, I... I can't be a part of this anymore."

"You do NOT get to just walk away from this!" Monica shouted.

As she finished, Monica dove to the ground. Radha's hand went to her wrist laser, but Monica was out of view, hidden below her desk. Tapping sounds came from Monica's hiding spot, and machines around Radha started to light up.

Radha grabbed her helmet, slamming it down over her head as a human-shaped robot stomped towards her. It loomed over her, at least six and a half feet tall, and raised a laser cannon of its own.

"You don't get to leave me too!" Monica's voice was raw, pained. "You don't get to leave me with THEM!"

The robot opened fire, a ray of blue light bursting from its right arm into Radha's stomach. She let her armor take the hit and fired back, sending silver light into the robot's right shoulder. As the two beams faded so the lasers could cool down, Radha lunged forward, grabbing the robot's arm and planting her right foot on its chest. She kicked forward, yanking back as she did, and the weakened shoulder joint split apart.

Radha let go, preparing to fire at the disarmed robot's legs as another wave of heat hit her. More lasers, from several directions - and Monica was holding one of them, now standing with her full costume on.

She must have been preparing for someone to backstab her, here. She just wasn't expecting it to be me.

"I should have known you were too dumb to get it!" Monica shouted. "Too poisoned by them!"

Monica pressed something on the desk, and half of Radha's world exploded into blazing light. Her right eye, the prosthetic Monica had made - everything was so bright she could barely think.

I can't fight like this. She'll crush me.

Radha turned, running for the door she'd come through. She could feel more beams hitting her, hear them starting to melt her armor, as she staggered back out into the hallway. The lab was underground, she remembered, she needed to get back up, get out...

As she turned a corner, in what she was pretty sure was the direction of the stairs, her vision changed again. A dizzying array of colors flashed into her right eye - her head spun, her stomach churned, and she felt herself stumble into a wall.

Radha pulled off her helmet, gasping for air as if it would help, as the light show continued. She reached for the prosthetic eye, trying to pull it out, but the armor made her fingers too bulky, she couldn't get a good grip. She could hear movement the way she'd come - there wouldn't be time to take off her gauntlets.

Radha took a deep breath, steadying herself. This was not going to be pleasant.

She put her thumb and forefinger on opposite sides of the prosthetic, and squeezed.

The metal eye crunched together, and the lights died down. She could still see flashes - she wasn't sure if it was sending weaker signals, or if they were just echoes in her mind. Either way, no point in letting Monica keep a direct line to her brain. Gripping the eye by its crushed sides, she pulled out the prosthetic, and tossed it aside.

Radha put her helmet back on and pulled herself back to her feet, half her vision dark once more. Thankfully, Monica didn't seem to have a similar override for her armor. Lasers flashed from the way she'd come, reminding Radha to get moving again.

She made it to the stairs, and bolted up them. As long as she was moving, she'd be able to outrun Monica and her creations. She reached the first floor, and spotted a familiar face - Liz.

"Artemis?" Liz asked. "What's going on?"

"I..." No time to explain. Just need to escape. "I need your car keys."

"What?" Liz asked. "Why?"

She's had Monica's back this whole time, and Camilla's before that. There's no point in trying to convince her.

Radha raised her laser cannon. "Just do it. Now."

Liz's eyes went wide, and she took a step back. She reached into her pocket, and tossed the keys to Artemis.

"Thanks," Radha said. "And... I'm sorry."

She ran past Liz, and back out of the building. It didn't take long to find Liz's van. Radha got inside, and started the engine.

Monica had to be calling for help by now. Nowhere in the city would be safe. Probably nowhere outside the city, either.

Even so, she knew where she needed to go. Even if she didn't know what would happen when she got there.

Radha got onto the road, and started making her way back towards Cincinnati.

---

Andre

Andre glanced up at the sky, then back down to the bluecape next to him. Helicopter should be arriving soon.

"You know anything about her?" Chroma asked.

"Not much," Andre admitted. "Apparently she volunteered to come right away, once she heard we were looking for a power like hers. Dunno why."

"And we still don't really know what that power is," Chroma said.

"Yep," Andre agreed. "Just that someone tried to kill her over it. Seems like that's gotten Louisville cagey about sharing much of anything."

Chroma gave a non-committal grunt. "Hope she's not up to anything."

Right on schedule, the helicopter came into view, and began its descent.

"Guess we'll find out, huh?" Andre asked.

Chroma didn't respond. Andre glanced at him - he was still staring at the helicopter, as if he hadn't even heard him.

"Chroma?" Andre prompted. "You okay?"

Chroma began to raise a hand, towards the helicopter-

Andre tackled him. A red beam fired from Chroma's palm, off in the wrong direction as he crashed to the ground.

"Chroma, what the hell?" Andre demanded, trying to pin the cape's arms down. He sunk his power into Chroma, increasing his weight. Chroma still wasn't responding.

Another beam fired, searing into Andre's side. Keeping his knee on Chroma's gut, he used both hands to grab the backs of Chroma's wrists, forcing his palms to the ground.

Behind him, the helicopter was landing. As its motor quieted, a voice called out. "What's going on?"

"I don't know!" Andre called back. "He tried to shoot you, he won't tell me why!"

"Let me take a look," the person said, approaching. Looking up, Andre identified her as the cape he was here to meet - Anima. She had a similar build to Tameka, and was wearing jeans and a red jacket over a nemenon bodysuit, not unlike the ways Fenrir had dressed when she'd started out.

Anima put her left hand on Andre's shoulder, and her right hand on the still-struggling Chroma's. Andre felt like like something was reaching into him, probing him, but he couldn't tell if he was imagining it.

"You're clear," Anima said, "but he's not. Fuck, can they control people?"

They? Who's that?

"Keep him still," Anima continued, taking Chroma's head in both of her hands. "I've, uh, never done something like this before. Maybe if I..."

Whatever she was doing, Andre couldn't see it. But after about a minute, Chroma let out a gasp, and stopped fighting him.

"Wh... what happened?" Chroma asked.

"Someone was... puppeting you, I guess?" Anima said. "Through a weak point in your... dammit I don't know what to call this stuff. Spirit form? But I fixed it, I think."

This is getting even more confusing, Andre thought. "Were they after you?"

Anima looked away. "I... guess? I don't know what's going on, I just got this power and..."

"You sure I'm okay?" Chroma sounded rattled. How much of that was he aware of?

"No. Yes. I don't know!" Anima stammered. "I... I'm not sure about anything. But I think we can let you up."

Andre moved himself off Chroma, and withdrew his power. Chroma sat up, putting the three of them in a circle.

"Fuck," Chroma groaned. "I hope I'm fine now, but..."

"We can get someone to pick you up," Andre assured him. He turned away from the others. "Tameka, you get all that?"

"Already passing it on to Seraph," Tameka reported. "She's sending someone over."

"Seraph's sending help," Andre relayed.

"Okay," Chroma said. "I'll... find a bench, I guess. You two go do your thing, I don't want to risk attacking Anima again."

Andre nodded. "Alright. Hope you feel better."

Someone else called out from near the helicopter - the pilot, Andre realized. "Y'all need anything else from me?"

"No," Anima replied. "Thanks, Rose. Sorry about the scare."

"Take care, then," Rose said, retreating into the helicopter.

Andre got back to his feet, and Chroma and Anima did the same. Next stop: Fenrir.

---

Mark

Mark looked over the gathering of capes in his office. Roadripper, Sculptor, Radiance, plus Phantasm now that he was well enough to rejoin them, and off to the side, a surly-looking Cybermind.

"Artemis has betrayed us," he announced to the room. "According to Cybermind, she fled back to Cincinnati."

"They won't take her," Cybermind growled. "We burned our bridges before we left. If she thinks she'll get anything out of this, she's an even bigger idiot than I thought."

Radiance spoke up, calling out to Cybermind. "Weren't you the one who vouched for her? Why the hell should we keep listening to you?"

"Cybermind's contributions to my project are essential," Roadripper replied. "I will keep a closer eye on her, but we still need her. The fact that Cybermind stayed with us, while Artemis attacked her lab and fled, is telling."

"Roadripper is right," Mark agreed. The rest of the assurance the two of them had about Cybermind was on a need-to-know basis, and Radiance, Sculptor, and Phantasm didn't need to know. "This will not change our plans for Cincinnati."

If Artemis tried to warn them about the specifics, they wouldn't believe her. Not after she'd betrayed them once, and not when it would mean recognizing God's will.

If there was a real danger of figuring them out, Muriel would warn him. God had his back, at least in the big picture. But he was responsible for the details.

"What are those plans?" Radiance demanded. "When do we get to do something again?"

"When Roadripper and Cybermind finish their work," Mark said. "Until then, you can wait. I'm not sharing more when we've just had our third leak in as many weeks."

"Only one of those was by one of us," Sculptor remarked. "The second was a shapeshifter, and the third was Artemis."

"Both of whom were supposed to BE part of us!" Mark snapped. "No more bitching, I've made my decision. Anyone have a question that ISN'T telling me how to do my fucking job?"

Silence.

"Good," Mark said. "Then get outta here. Back to whatever you were doing."

Each of the capes stood back up and began to file out the door. Phantasm was slowest, his movements still looking labored.

"Phantasm," Mark called out. "You doing okay?"

"Better than I was," Phantasm said. "But the doc says I should take it easy for another month or so."

Mark frowned. "Roadripper will finish in less than a month. When he does, I want you ready to get back out there. You gonna find a way to to that for me?"

Phantasm took in a breath. "Yes, sir. Of course."

"Good," Mark said. "I'll see you around."

"See you, Sniper." Phantasm turned, and headed out after the others.

Mark sat back down at his desk. If Phantasm exacerbated his injuries in the coming battles, that was fine.

He knew God's will, after all: that soon, this world would come to an end.

---

Isaac

People are here again. Two of the usual ones, and... someone else. Why do they feel familiar?

They're opening my cell, walking inside. Why? Aren't they scared?

The new person reaches up, puts a hand on my shoulder, and...

Something cut through the haze. A voice reached into my head, one I remembered hearing years ago.

Isaac? It's you, right? Can you hear me?

I... think so? I feel like I'm supposed to know you.

It's Madison. I'm gonna try to get you out of here.

That name sounds familiar, but... fuck, everything's so hazy.

...Oh. Well, that's okay, just hang in there.

I could feel myself, floating, ephemeral. In my werewolf form, I was pretty sure. Hands examined my stomach, my arms, my head. As they worked, voices came from outside, in the physical world.

"Their power feels... different, compared to other capes I've met. Which isn't that many, but it's a few now, and..."

"I can believe that. We knew Fenrir was weird. Different how?"

"It feels..." A sharp intake of breath. "Corrupted? And also like it was damaged, somehow. But the corruption came first."

"Can you fix it?"

"I'm gonna try to fix the damage. I think the corruption is just... part of the power. If that's even a good word for it."

"Sounds like an improvement, at least."

"Yeah. Let me see..."

Something in my stomach began to knit itself back together. I could feel the presence of the lives I'd taken, since I'd transformed, now finally in reach. Whatever it was I took from each of them, most of it had dispersed by now, but with enough of them together...

At last, the hunger began to recede. My mind was still hazy, but it was getting better, I was pretty sure. And... was I shrinking?

I lurched forward, no longer held by the restraints. At at least, not some of them. Others caught me, looser but still in the way. The metal was cold against my skin - I wasn't wearing any clothes this time, was I. What I was covered in was ash, cascading down around me. I glanced down, and saw that the ash had formed a pile several times larger than the ones I'd found myself in while going wolf. And it looked like I was back in a feminine form, that was good.

This time, I could recognize the voice of the person in front of me. "Isaac? Are you..."

"Mads!" I called out. They - she was in costume, but I could still tell who she was. "Holy shit."

Moving my mouth again felt weird, I wasn't sure I was speaking clearly. My eyes went to the other two people there with me - they stood on opposite sides of Madison, unlocking the restraints.

The man to my left spoke up. "Wait, do you two know each other?"

Madison shrugged. "Small world, huh?"

I remembered spending time with each of them, but...

"So you two're... fuck," I mumbled out. "I know this. Bruce?"

"Brian," the man said. "And he's Cygnus."

"Right, yeah," I muttered. "Stuff's still... bit hazy. Names 'specially. Think I remember the, uh, big picture stuff."

"That's good," Cygnus said. "Seraph will want to see you soon. Do you remember why?"

It wasn't hard to remember who Seraph was. "Yeh. Time to face the music, huh?" That wasn't going to be fun.

The last of the restraints fell away. I collapsed into Madison, wrapping my arms around her, and she hugged me back.

"Guess you'll need clothes first," Cygnus continued. "And a shower."

Brian stepped away, then came back with a towel. "Might want this," he said, holding it out to me.

I stepped back from Madison, made sure I had my balance, then took the towel, wrapping it around myself. I followed the others upstairs, out of the area no one had even told me about, and made my way to a bathroom.

As I got myself cleaned up and into new clothes, I thought about my current appearance. The first person I'd eaten since transforming was the fire TERF, and I didn't think I looked quite like her - not that I'd remember very clearly right now. I didn't feel any sign of her powers, either. I wondered if this body was some sort of amalgamation of... however many people I'd eaten.

I didn't want to think about that. But I'd tried so many times to avoid thinking about things, hadn't I? I'd need to talk about it with Seraph, and... and then there were all the things I'd been keeping from Cygnus. And Madison... god, Madison was a cape now, what the hell was with that?

When I left the bathroom, only Madison and Brian were waiting for me. I could hear voices from another room - Cygnus and... dammit, this was getting annoying.

The three of us headed towards the voices. Cygnus sounded incredulous about something, and he was talking to... the computer woman. Tameka, I remembered.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Word from Seraph," Tameka said. "Artemis just surrendered."